


Unintentional

by Insane_but_smart



Series: Aestheticverse [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abandoning Morals, Accusations, Angst, Backstory, Bleeding Out, Blood, Blush - Freeform, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Casually Breaking the Fourth Wall, Chara is annoying, Chara is still annoying, Choices, Cliffhanger, Conversations, Corruption, Crying, Decisions, Deja Vu, Emotions, Fourth Wall, Fourth Wall Breaking, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I blame this on Dusk too, I blame this on Lyn, I love Ray he's so babey, I'm looking at you Dusk, If you're checking the tags for spoilers, Murder attempt, Nearly dead, Oceantale- not Outertale, POV Change, Panic, Panic Attacks, Possible Character Death, Purring, Regret(?), Relative Fluff, Reminiscing, Repressing Emotions, Rigel cannot deal with being short XD, SQUEALING, Screaming, Sobbing, Unconscious, Unease, Venting(?), as always, battles, dragged, fight?, flexing, i can't write fight scenes save me, it’s an underrated AU!, mood changes, movies - Freeform, not canon, planning, potential Character Death, stories, you know what - Freeform, you're out of luck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24426742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insane_but_smart/pseuds/Insane_but_smart
Summary: It’s just a regular battle, until something goes horribly wrong.
Series: Aestheticverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679476
Comments: 23
Kudos: 16





	1. Drained

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS NOT CANON.  
> It’s just a ‘what if’ scenario.
> 
> Also, certain words are crossed out, because... reasons.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flare gets injured, and things don't go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't canon! I blame this whole thing on Lyn, uwu.  
> Also, so many people have read TSISAS? I scream with joy whenever it gets a kudos-
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy your feels!  
> (help it's 4:30 in the morning as I am posting this so right after i'm going to sleep)

Flare gasped as an attack struck him directly in the sternum. Shit- that was- that was a good hit. It was a strong attack, too, and that made it worse- he was already pretty weak from just being in this half-turned AU.

Rigel was trying to tip the balance, and so both himself and Ink were doing their jobs- his was to protect the balance of emotions, and Ink’s was to… well, in all actuality, Ink did whatever he wanted. But at least he was helping?

...or perhaps it was only because Ink strove to preserve the original state of the AUs. He disliked- or, well, disapproved- of tampering with their stories.

Whatever the case, Flare was  _ badly _ injured. He- he could actually dust like this. So, trusting Ink to hold off Rigel, he fled the scene of the battle.

Flare sat down a short way away from the battle- he could still see what was going on from his spot behind a few rocks, which was- that was good. He would be fine.

He pulled out his SOUL, intending to check the possible damage done to it.

His SOUL should have been a  ~~ rose ~~ , but after the… incident… he tended to have panic attacks after seeing them. Instead it resembled a warped monster SOUL (even though he wasn’t… truly a monster, he appreciated the resemblance to his outward appearance) and unlike a normal monster SOUL, it was yellow, and it glowed with the same luster as the  ~~ roses ~~ used to, before… the incident.

Flare relaxed slightly- it was fine. Sure, the glow his SOUL usually emanated was doomed considerably, but this timeline was dark and hurting, and there wasn’t much hope left.

His HP, however… well, it certainly wasn’t the highest it had been. Actually, he was barely three hits from just… dusting.

He had been right to flee when he did.

He rummaged through his pockets for some monster food- he usually had some on hand for emergencies- and this certainly counted as an emergency. He pulled out a bisicle and two cinnamon bunnies, and ate them- they dissolved into magic in his mouth, and he could feel himself healing. Okay, that was… 66HP healed. That’d do for now-

Flare felt a stabbing pain in his SOUL-  _ oh stars, he had left it exposed, hadn’t he _ \- followed by a rush of ( _ nonononono-) _ negativity. Oh stars. Ohhh stars. This was- this was bad- very, very bad.

His SOUL was quickly and steadily turning dark- the attack had been charged with negative emotions- and Flare was trying his hardest not to panic, not to let the corruption (that was the word his mind had supplied, and it fit pretty well) spread any further than it had, but it kept dragging out his guilt and shame, and he couldn’t fight off that much negativity with such a disheartening lack in positivity. It was, quite literally, impossible.

And then he realized he was in pain- and so he grit his teeth, trying not to let any sign of his pain and turmoil be shown, be it through tears or noise, because neither benefited him.

And as his SOUL reached the tipping point between light and dark- positivity and negativity- Flare lost consciousness as fast as a rock sinks in water.

Flare had fled, Rigel noted absentmindedly. Good for him. That would make his job a  _ lot _ easier. 

Ink was being annoyingly stubborn- but wasn’t he always? Rigel raised a hand and sent a few vines at the artist- just enough to trip him, though. He just needed time to monologue- by this point, the AU was turning itself dark on its own- he really didn’t need to be there much longer.

He noticed that a small cluster of thorns had broken off the vines (that was fine, they weren’t very aerodynamic anyways) and headed toward a rock clump a short distance away.

He didn’t think much of it, though, because one thorn never actually killed anyone, so instead he turned his attention to the-

Oh shit, he had missed his monologue opportunity,

Ink splattered him in… purple paint, using that damn brush of his. Said paint then solidified into chains. Rigel, miffed, struggled against them- usually he could break out of this attack with a minimal level of difficulty, but-

H- he felt unusually drained. Something was sucking his power out of him like a leech.

...damn, that was bad. He wasn’t supposed to be this weak in a half turned AU- that simply wasn’t possible! He should be stronger, not this-!

…he was going to have to flee. That was… fine. He’d just- he’d come back later. Yeah, that would do nicely for now.

Finally managing to break out of the chains, he opened a portal to his ~~hideout~~ _imposing castle,_ (when had it become that difficult to create portals?) and dashed through it before it closed, before coming to an abrupt halt in his room- taking a moment to lament the fact that he hadn’t had the time to make his exit needlessly dramatic.

He felt his consciousness slipping away and desperately he tried to keep a firm hold on reality, the guardian’s hands clenching into trembling fists as he slid down the wall into a sitting position, as he felt his legs about to give out.

He-

For the first time in a very, very long time, Rigel was _ scared _ .

With that realization, the guardian went out like a light.

They both jolted awake at the same time, and both had a sense of unease when they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write fight scenes. Sue me.  
> Also cliffhanger? uwu


	2. Experiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flare is confused.
> 
> Rigel tries to hold himself together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

Flare woke up  _ extremely _ disoriented. Where- What happened-? He tried to remember what had-

_ Oh. _

That was… strangely all he felt regarding the events that had transpired. Barely anything.

It had happened. So what? It’s not like he could change anything.

He didn’t care.

...oh, and he felt stronger, too. A… a lot stronger. Too strong- Stars, it would be so  _ easy _ to tip the balance of this world, make this AU go completely  _ rotten _ with just a flick of his wrist and everything would go dark and he-

No, h- he shouldn’t- because that wasn’t right. That wasn’t what he was supposed to do.

...but damn, did he want to. He wanted to feel what it was  _ like _ to corrupt an AU. It wouldn’t even be hard- and anyways, the one he was in… it was already half turned.

He would just have to finish the job.

… 

…and anyways, it was just one AU.

Just…  _ one. _

Rigel woke up, and the first thing he noticed was that he was small. He was tiny,  _ and _ powerless, which were two of his least favorite things. Because… because he had reasons to dislike them. 

_ Being beaten up in alleyways wasn’t fun. He had learned that after the first five times it had happened.  _

Reasons that he would… prefer  _ not _ to think about, thank you very much.

Rigel stood up, legs wobbly, before he groaned. Shit. He couldn’t let anyone see him like- like this.

He was weak like this.

He was _ scared _ like this.

So Rigel resigned himself to staying in his room for as long as possible… and the first thing he was going to do was get new clothes. These ones were too big.

It ended up being more than one. It was just that- turning AUs dark, breaking their hopes, _shattering_ their dreams- it was _addicting,_ for Flare, and he... he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

He wasn’t quite sure he even wanted to, anyways.

After all, why would he even consider  _ not _ doing something that made him feel so,,, so empowered?

Rigel stiffened, hearing a knock on his door.  _ Shit…  _

“Ri- er-” The person outside paused for a minute, before muttering, “ _ Am I working right now…? No? Alright, then-”  _ and then resuming what they were saying at a normal volume- “Rigel, uh… if you’re in there- I’m guessing you are ‘cuz your door’s locked- are you alright?”

“I-” Damn, his voice was  _ way _ higher in pitch- “-I’m fine, Ray. Just… go away.”

Well. That was… annoyingly child-like.

“...Are you su-”

“- _ Just go. _ ”

“...you don’t sound alright.”

“Ray-”

“I’m coming in-”

“Ray, no-”   
Ray opened the door, and the first thing he saw was a very, very small skeleton with blue eyelights.

And there was only one person he knew with blue eyelights.

For a moment, the pair just stood there- Rigel nervous and jumpy, and Ray in relative shock.

Ray, however, recovered quickly from said shock, and the first thing he did was squeal. “Ohmygoshyou’resoCUTEE-” 

Ray picked up Rigel (Rigel was annoyed that Ray, of all people, was _taller_ than him.) and proceeded to  squeal once again, for good measure. Rigel flinched slightly at the touch, his body going rigid before he forced himself to relax. He’d be fine. Ray wouldn’t _dare_ hurt him.

After all, he did have a few things he could hold over the other’s head… metaphorically.

It was getting kind of annoying, but at the same time, Rigel would feel bad if he told Ray to stop, so he endured (Rigel did not enjoy them- he wouldn’t _consider_ doing anything of the sort) the happy squeals.

Rigel realized he was smiling and proceeded to blush (and effectively become a bright blue glowstick).

After a while of the happy squeals, Ray set the guardian down. “Oh, sorry, Rigel, I just- you’re adorable? Ahhh, you’re so cute, oh my stars-” As Ray ranted about how cute he was (okay, he would admit he was, in fact, cute-), Rigel was trying to puzzle out what the hell had happened. Somehow, he had been drained of  _ all of his powers _ in a matter of hours. 

...so all Rigel had to do was find out where they had gone.

Or worse-  _ who _ currently had them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ray is so fun to write-  
> He's just a pure, precious baby boy and I love him-  
> Also Flare, what are you doing? :0
> 
> There's probably so many typos, but it's 4:30 AM and I can't make myself actually care.


	3. Backstabbing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...well, he wasn’t going to say he expected a murder attempt- and from him, nonetheless.
> 
> He was trying his hardest not to feel, but it... it was hard.
> 
> He doesn’t like being this weak. It makes him uncomfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting this from my phone, so the formatting may be a little wink wonky, but I didn’t want to wait to post it!
> 
> Have fun!  
> *types the next chapter*

Flare opened a portal to the next AU.

This one was going to be annoying to deal with, but it would have to fall eventually, and it was the closest to here anyways.

He just wanted to get this over with.

Lilac was just minding his own business, patrolling, like always (and he totally wasn’t reading fic while doing it), when Flare walked through a portal. The first thing Lilac noticed was that Flare seemed…  _ floatier _ than usual. Literally. His jacket was just.,. somehow noping out of physics?

...Lilac was going to ask how he was doing that, that was really cool and now he was jealous. How the hell was that even possible? He just- he needed to know.

The second thing was that Flare, who usually showed at least some hint of emotion  _ somewhere _ in his posture or expression, if you knew where to look, (much like the fallen human, actually) just wasn’t. It was… disconcerting, to say the least.

Either he was having an off day (which happened sometimes, and Lilac tried to help him through those- he wasn’t very good at it, in his opinion) or something was wrong.

Lilac was thinking it was the latter.

“Heya, Flare.” Flare turned around to look down at a short skeleton with soft lavender eyelights. “Oh- woah, is it just me being short, or are you taller?”

Flare just stared down at him.

“...also, your right eyesocket is… cracked a little. You okay? Need any healing items?”

Blink.

“...Flare?”

“What.”

“Oh, I was worried. So… you good?” Lilac stuffed his hands in his pockets. “D’ya need anything?”

Blink.

Lilac narrowed his eyes, which was weird, considering he didn’t have eyes to narrow. “Okay. If you don’t need anything, I’m just… I’m just going to leave now.” Lilac turned around, walked a few steps, before abruptly stopping and stepping to the left just before a vine shot out of the ground right where he was standing a few moments before. “Well, that’s one way to  _ cut _ through the tension.”

Flare felt his mouth curve upward at the edges, and quickly smothered his emotions. He. Was not. Going. To. Feel.  _ Anything. _

Another vine tried to spear Lilac through the chest. Lilac just dodged it, being a Sans. “I’d say  _ dice  _ job, but it’s not very  _ knife  _ of you to do this, ya know? Or maybe you don’t.”

Flare just glared at Lilac.

“Oh, you finally show some emotions.”

“To be honest, I thought that would work.”

“...now that’s a little _ too _ relatable.”

Flare sent a few vines at Lilac, who sidestepped them and sent a few bones glowing a soft, pastel lavender towards the guardian. “What’s with the murder attempt?”

“You’re going to get in my way.” Flare sent a few more attacks at Lilac.

“Ehhh, that’s fair, I suppose. I mean, that’s what I’m doing right now- though,” Lilac winked at Flare. “Maybe that’s because I enjoy living.”

Flare felt a twinge of guilt-  _ No. _ He wasn’t guilty- not at all.

Lilac tried to hit him with another bone, this time out of the floor, but the snow made it hard to perceive depth, and so he was a few inches off. Or maybe it was because he wasn’t actually trying to hit Flare. Nonetheless, Flare nearly stumbles over it.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to try and kill me, but you were acting weird and I was getting suspicious.”

More guilt.

“...I don’t know what you’re doing, but if you think I’m going to get in your way, it’s probably not a good thing.”

Flare hissed at the words- why did they sting?! What- he wasn’t going to  _ feel _ , he refused to feel-

...he was coming back later.

Lilac watched as Flare’s stoic expression shifted slightly, before said guardian turned and left through a portal.

…

_...what the hell just happened? _

  
  


Ray was dragging Rigel through the castle by the hood of his half-cape. Rigel… well, he literally couldn’t do anything about this, though he was relatively upset that his boots would be scuffed. Instead, he opted to look over his phalanges like a Karen would her cuticles.

After a while of dragging Rigel through the corridors, Ray picked Rigel up and placed him on the couch, who then proceeded to curl in on himself, hugging his patellas to his sternum. “Ray- what are you doing?”

Ray turned to face him, grinning. “We’re going to watch a movie.”

“But-”

“Nope, you’re getting no excuses. Every single time I try to get you to do this, you run away.”

“W- I don’t  _ run away!  _ Unlike you, I have _ work _ -”

“You know as well as I do that you’re ahead on your paperwork but at least a _ week. _ Possibly by a month, because you can’t sleep most days and then you stay up all night doing it. Well, that’s what Chara says. I told him to stop watching people do things at night.”

Rigel huffed, sinking further into the cushions. “Fine.” he mumbled. “Just one.”

Ray winked at him. “I’ll be holding you to that.”

He couldn’t focus on the movie. He couldn’t stop thinking.

Where were his powers? He- what was he meant to do without them? W-

“Hey. Stop that.” Ray said, snapping his phalanges in front of the guardian’s face, and Rigel realized that Ray had been saying his name for a while now.

“Uh- Stop what?”

“You have your thinking face on.”

“I don’t have a thinking face.”

“Yes you do. Your face scrunches up a little and you pick at your arms.”

Rigel flashed a brilliant cyan. “Wh-  _ I do no such thing! _ ” Ray giggled. “No, no- you totally do.”

“No I don’t!”

“Then what, pray tell, were you doing thirty seconds ago?”

Rigel inhaled, prepared to reply, when he realized that he had been thinking and the fact that Ray knew he was thinking meant that he did, in fact, have a thinking face.

And his arms were relatively sore.

“Exactly my point!”

And then Ray hugged him.

_ What…? _

Rigel fought back tears. He had a strange sense of déjà vu- but this- he-

_ He hadn’t been hugged in years. _

Dammit- he was being dumb- just a simple  _ hug _ shouldn’t do this-

Ray let go.

Rigel’s breath hitched. He was being weak- he had to figure out what had happened to his powers, because without them he was just  _ this _ . What if Flare found hi-

Flare.

_ Flare. _

Rigel felt rage course through him. Of  _ course.  _ Of course Flare would have them, he-

“Ray, I have to go.”

“Eh? Wha-”

Rigel opened a portal- damn, that was difficult- and left.

He had a mission.

Oceantale was nice, especially on a genocide route. There was nobody around and it was quiet- there were a few islands on this AU’s surface, and the water was a soft blue hue. It was calming.

Even so, he- Flare was… he was upset? Why? Why would he be upset?

He didn’t want to feel upset- he didn’t want to _ feel _ in general, because emotions were just a fallacy, a weak point- after all, he had seen what they did to people, and so he wouldn’t make their mistakes.

So... why was he here, trying to sort them out..? Trying to make sense of their utter, illogical _ nonsense? _ He didn’t-

A portal opened behind him.

“Flare..?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3  
> There’s a reason for the cliffhanger tag!
> 
> If you enjoyed, leave a kudos- or even a comment? They make me squeal with joy when I get them-


	4. Conversations (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have a nice conversation.  
> ...in all honesty, it depends on your definition of ‘nice’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help???  
> I wrote all of this in one day??
> 
> Though, this was all that I had planned, the story isn’t over, but chapters will be slower.  
> Possibly.
> 
> Again, posting this from my phone. :P

Flare paused.  _ No. He wasn’t- _

He turned around, and lo and behold, Rigel was standing there, right behind him. Well. This was going to have to happen eventually, he supposed.

  
Rigel glared at Flare, mentally hitting himself for sounding so- so  _ pitiful _ . He wasn’t- he wasn’t that- that dumb  _ kid _ who got beaten up in alleyways, who lied to his brother, who pretended to be fine when he was really suffering, who pretended to be clumsy to hide the new bruises that appeared on his body every single day, who wrote poems that hurt to just read, who couldn’t sleep at night- too scared that something would happen the moment he let down his guard- who was  _ weak _ , in every sense of the word.

...he didn’t want to be that, ever again.

~~ And maybe  _ that  _ ~~ ~~was why he wanted his powers back~~.

Rigel held out a hand, trying to summon his rapier-

It didn’t work.

So he tried again.

And again.

And with every new failure, he grew a little more panicked, until he just willed his limited magic to do- to just create  _ something _ \- just please, please, please be a weapon-

A staff. It wasn’t a _ bad _ weapon, and the weight was nice…

“This’ll do…” he muttered, before glancing up at Flare, who was watching him with a strange mixture of boredom and a detached amusement in his expression.

Rigel was taking a while to summon something. It was rather obvious he was coming to fight, so Flare waited, watching- no,  _ feeling _ Rigel’s panic and mounting desperation, until he finally managed to summon  _ something _ . Really- it had been nearly a minute at this point.

Flare waited for a few more moments before simply flicking his wrist outwards, and feeling his longsword (He had seen no point in switching to another weapon. That wouldn’t make any sense.) appear in his hand.

Rigel scowled at Flare. That was  _ really _ show- wait, was he- was Flare actually  _ flexing _ ?! He raised his staff, preparing to-

Wait.

Flare was stronger than him- for now.

So if he attacked Flare, he’d probably get his ass handed to him ...so the only thing that made sense to do was ambush him. Later.

Slowly, Rigel took a step back, letting his staff dissolve back into pure magic. 

He could try persuasion. That could work for now. “So. What’re you up to these days?” Rigel began, awkwardly.

Ray groaned, slapping himself lightly in the forehead. Rigel had run away.

Again.

Meanwhile, Chara decided to make his presence known, popping into ghostly existence (even though Ray was the only one who could see him). “Well? Are you going to go after him?” He asked, and Ray rolled his eyelights. “Yeah, yeah, I just have to figure out  _ where _ he went first.”

“Are you going to bring up the fact that-“

“ _ Yes,  _ Chara- for stars sake, you can read my mind, you know this already.”

“...and why, exactly, should I talk to  _ you _ ?” Flare deadpanned, gazing blankly at Rigel, who had expected more of a reaction from the other.

“Because it… would be more interesting than fighting?” Rigel tried, and apparently that answer satisfied Flare, because  _ he _ asked, “Why are you here? What do you want?”

“My powers back?” It was rather direct, and not witty in the slightest, but it conveyed his point nicely.

Flare blinked. “No. You’re… just going… you’re going to just- just hurt people.”

“... and you haven’t?”

“I haven’t killed anyone.”

Rigel was tempted- so, so tempted- to say ‘yet’, but… there was something that was so much better. “...so we’re just going to conveniently ignore the fact that Flowerfell is- or should I say,  _ was _ \- a thing?” he snarked, and Flare flinched away from him slightly. 

He stared at Rigel, and the shorter of the pair saw his expression flicker to one of… was that guilt? “Just- Flare, just give me my powers  _ back _ .”

“No.” Flare hissed.

“What will you use them for, then?” Rigel scoffed. “Surely you wouldn’t corrupt an AU? Abandon your oh-so  _ precious _ morals?” 

“...and so what if I  _ did _ ?”

Rigel blinked at him in shock. “You- you  _ didn’t _ .”

“Answer the question.” Flare replied sharply.

Rigel smirked, knowing that was as good an answer as any. “...oh my stars _ , _ you actually did it! How did it  _ feel _ ?”

“Why should I say? It’s not like you don’t know.” 

Rigel sighed. “Touché. Still. I want my powers back.”

“The answer is  _ still _ a no. And take this-“ Flare reached up to his neck, removed a small necklace with two charms hanging on a golden chain, and tossed it towards Rigel, who caught it before it hit the ground. “-because I don’t need it.”

Rigel opened his mouth to speak- to say  _ something-  _ but Flare had already portaled away, and Rigel shut his mouth with an audible click.

...what?

What was- He looked down at the necklace, and felt his breathing speed up as he began to panic.  _ No- no he didn’t just- it wasn’t the same necklace, it wasn’t, it couldn’t be, he had thrown it away and so it couldn’t be the same one, there was no chance- no way- _

It was.

He ran his phalanges over the first charm- a golden sun- as old memories resurfaced. “Flare… you actually kept it…? ...why?” he murmured to himself, feeling the cool metal against his bones.

And then his phalanges found the silver charm, hidden under the first, and his SOUL hurt a little more.

“...and you kept mine, too? Why?”

His mind struggled to process this new information.

Flare had still cared enough to keep the necklace- and it was in near-pristine condition. He felt his breath catch in his throat again, but this time he was alone, and so he cried, and he cried enough that the tears fell and splattered on the necklace, and yet  _ still _ he let his sapphire blue tears fall, because he was alone and so nobody would see his moment of weakness.

And after he had cried, he stared at the necklace, beginning to understand what had happened.

This used to be  _ theirs _ .

Then it was Flare’s, because he hadn’t wanted it anymore- thrown it into the grass carelessly, drunk on  _ power. _

And now Flare had just…  _ abandoned _ it.

So, technically, the right thing to do would be to…

Rigel glanced at the ocean, its waves rippling and rolling up to the shore, lapping at the sand gently.

He lifted the hand with the necklace in it, and threw the necklace out to sea, closing his eyes as he did so.

The tell-tale ‘plop’ of the necklace falling into the ocean… it never came, and Rigel opened his eyes to see the necklace still clutched in his palm. He stared at it, wondering why he hadn’t let go, when-

Rigel heard a portal open behind him, and scrambled to wipe the tears off of his face before  _ whoever _ it was could see them there.

“Rigel, are you okay?” Ray called, running over to the small guardian, who was holding something in one of his hands, though Ray was too far away to see what it was.

Rigel turned to face Ray, realized the necklace was still in his hand, and shoved it into one of his pockets. “...I’m fine,” he replied after a little while. “I’m just fine.”

His voice, which was shaky and unsteady, cracked, but for once, he didn’t care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	5. Conversations (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’s not comfortable with this, but it had to happen.
> 
> He’s not sure this will end well, but he can try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I should do insomnia week!  
> Also me: *writes Unintentional*
> 
> Okay.  
> This is the last thing I actually had planned for this fic- so if you suggest something to me, who knows? It might end up being canon to this work.  
> :3

The moment they got back, Rigel felt a sense of unease. He- Ray was probably upset.

He had the right to be. 

No- wait- Ray was probably  _ pissed. _

...well,  _ that _ thought certainly didn’t help his mood.

Ray plopped himself onto the couch, and Rigel sat down a fair distance away from him. The other looked up at Rigel, promptly glanced away, and then sighed. “Uh, this is awkward.”

“...you think?” Rigel replied wryly, trying desperately to keep up his air of confidence, though he was certain Ray had seen through it already.

“I… guess you know that I’ve got a few… questions.”

“That’s obvious.”

Ray laughed nervously. “I guess it was… so, why were you- uh- there’s really no way to beat around the bush here- Why were you about to… well, you know, cry earlier?”

H- how did Ray know about that, he wasn’t there, he couldn’t ha- er, wait, he was talking about… when Ray had...  _ hugged _ him. Rigel wasn’t proud of his reaction to  _ that _ at all, either.

“Rigel?” Ray asked, breaking through his thoughts.

“Yes?”

“You… you didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh,” Rigel said, before pausing, looking down at his hands. ...he wasn’t going to tell Ray the _ whole _ truth. That… that was too much information.

~~ Too much information that could be used against him. ~~

And yet… Ray  _ deserved _ at least a half-truth, and so that was what he would receive.

“Well- uh- it reminded me of when Flare and I were. You know. Close. Not… not like now,” he stammered out awkwardly, anxiously awaiting Ray’s reaction.

Ray gasped, and Rigel just _ knew _ that there would be pity in his expression when he glanced up, he just _ knew _ there would be, that that pity would be there from the moment he looked up, but it didn’t stop him from looking up at the guard anyways. 

Ray’s expression was somewhere halfway between guilt (predictably) and… was- was that  _ remorse _ ? ...Why?

“I’m- I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was why you-”

“It’s _ fine _ , Ray. I’m fine.”

“Can I hug you?”

Rigel hesitated for a moment before replying. “...yes.”

Ray leaned over, picked him up (when had they moved closer together? He hadn’t noticed) and placed Rigel onto his lap, before gently wrapping his arms around the guardian, a small smile on his face, although Rigel couldn’t see it.

Rigel stiffened at first- this body was fragile and weak, who knew how much it would take for it to break- but slowly relaxed into the hug- it was… the hug felt…  _ nice _ .

Rigel was absolutely adorable when he was like this- he was babey in each and every sense of the word. Ray… well, he still didn’t know what had happened between Rigel and Flare, but it  _ must’ve _ been bad, because the former became visibly agitated whenever the latter was mentioned, so Ray wouldn’t ask him about what it was- even though he really did want to know.

Though, something that might have played a role in his reactions when Flare was mentioned might have been the fact they both tried to kill each other every single time they crossed paths.

….that probably  _ did _ have something to do with it, actually.

_ “So. Are we going to sit here, doing absolutely nothing useful, or are you going to get more information?” _

…Chara. Of course.

_ ‘We... should. But-‘ _

_ “Ray! This is the one chance you’ll get to learn something about him!” _

_ ‘... you’re right.’ _

He knew Chara was smirking.  _ “Aren’t I always?” _

...wait.

What was that sound?

It sounded like… purring?

_ “Ray, nobody here owns a cat, legally or otherwise.” _

Then what-

Ray glanced down at Rigel, about to ask, when he realized that the guardian was the one making the sound, his eyes shut and the corners of his mouth quirked into a small smile.

Ray held in a squeal- that was just too cute.

_ “He can do that?! How?” _

_ ‘I don’t know, but it’s adorable.’ _

_ “...it is, isn’t it?” _ Chara agreed, begrudgingly.

Ray held onto the guardian a short while longer, before loosening his hold on him. “Do you feel better now?” he whispered.

Rigel opened his eyes and hummed, thinking of a suitable response to Ray’s question. “Uh. Yeah,” he replied, and then as an afterthought, added, “Thanks.”

Ray patted him on the head, which he instinctively shied away from, causing Ray to stop. “You’re welcome,” Ray replied, and Rigel thought, for a moment, that the conversation was over.

The universe disagreed.

“By the way, what did you put in your pocket?”

Rigel tensed. “Nothing important,” He replied, through grit teeth.

“Huh. Well, Chara says that’s a lie.” Ray replied, ignoring Chara’s cries of indignation.

_ “You liar! I- I never said that!” _

_ ‘It’s too bad you can’t tell Rigel that yourself, then.’ _

Chara made himself visible for a moment, but only to thrust his middle fingers in the air rather pointedly at Ray, before he disappeared into nothingness once more.

Ray could _tell_ Rigel was panicking. It wasn’t exactly difficult to see it- Rigel was being… unusually expressive so far, and Ray wasn’t certain the guardian had realized he had been doing so. Probably not- Rigel always at least made an attempt to stay as nonchalant as possible.

…then again, Ray had always been unusually good at figuring out what people were feeling.

“...it’s- it’s stupid-“ Rigel muttered, curling in on himself.

“Is it?”

“ _ Yes,  _ Ray.”

“...please?”

_ “Wow, you’re working  _ **_really_ ** _ hard to sell this one, huh.” _

_ ‘Shut up.’ _

_ “You wish.” _

Oh. Wow, uh- Ray really wanted to know, huh?

...dammit, he didn’t- 

“...it’s just a necklace,” he found himself saying.

“Can I see it?”

Rigel reached into his pocket, before hesitating.

Wh- Why was he so  _ apprehensive _ about giving it to Ray? It- it wasn’t even his, it wasn’t special to him, so why did he want to keep it?

Before he could change his mind, he stood up (much to Ray’s dismay, judging by the expression on his face) and tossed Ray the necklace, before sitting down on the couch again in his original position, face turned away from the guard.

Ray caught the object tossed at him before realizing what it was out of reflex- then his brain actually registered what it was and looked it over closely.

It was a necklace with two charms- one of the sun, which was gold- much like the chain- and one that was emblazoned with a moon symbol, which was silver.

...the second charm looked like it had come from another necklace, but the owner had placed both charms on a single chain… weird.

In any case, it was old and worn- the charms were scuffed slightly.

...Ray may or may not have had a passion for analyzing things excessively. Oh well.

_ “Get on with it…” _

“Where’d you get this...?” Ray questioned absentmindedly, handing the necklace back to Rigel, who placed it into his pocket once more. He wondered if-

“No.”

“Rigel-“

“ _ No. _ ”

“...sorry.”

Rigel sucked in a breath, rubbing at his scabbed arms. He didn’t want to think about that-

“Why not? Was… was it really that bad of a place?”

“I said that out loud?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.”

“Repressing memories isn’t good for you.”

“It’s not repressed-“

“But you’re  _ trying _ to repress it.”

“...what are you, a therapist?”

Ray shrugged, holding back the urge to smirk (which was probably Chara doing so). “I could be.”

Rigel rolled his eyelights. “You’re so…  _ stupid _ .”

“You’re adorable,” Ray shot back, and Rigel’s cheekbones lit up with a bright cyan. Ray continued, “Did you know that you purr when you’re content?”

Rigel proceeded to turn an even brighter blue. “No! I- I would never-”

“Yes, yes you do.”

“I don’t!” the guardian whined.

“Okay, okay, you win.” Ray giggled, as Chara groaned.  _ “Why must you be like this, Ray?” _

The pair sat in silence for a moment or two, as Rigel forced down his blush and Ray either had a conversation with his Chara or an internal monologue, before Ray broke the silence with a blunt “So what  _ were _ you doing there?”

“What?” Rigel asked, not actually registering the question. 

“Why did you leave?”

“...I thought I figured something out.”

“What?”

“Why I’m like  _ this _ ,” Rigel gestured to himself.

“...so what happened?” Ray asked, tentatively, and Rigel huffed. “Flare.”

“...you seem to blame everything on him-“

“But it  _ was _ his fault, Ray! He’s got- he’s got my powers, and-“

“He has  _ what? _ ” Ray asked, dumbfounded.

_ “He’s bluffing.”  _ Chara exclaimed furiously.  _ “He- he has to be!” _

_ ‘Maybe he is?’ _

_ “What do you mean, ‘maybe’, of course he’s bluffing!” _

_ ‘He… wouldn’t bluff with something like that.’ _

Rigel glanced at Ray, seeming debating something, before summoning a weapon the guard had never seen him wield before- a short blue staff. It looked to have a pretty good balance from what Ray could see.

Rigel… usually defaulted to using a rapier.

Ray gasped. “You’re not joking.” The other glared at him. “Why would I be?”

“...ohhh my stars, this is  _ really _ bad.”

“Yeah. I’ve noticed.”

“So… the first thing we have to figure out is how Flare did it, and how we can recreate that effect.”

Rigel paused, thinking it over. “I think so.”

“But in the meantime….” Ray grinned mischievously at Rigel. “...we have a movie to finish.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again- if you suggest things like scenes and/or ways this story could end, I might write them in, because I have no more ideas for this fic after this point.


	6. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's just waiting for the other to stop talking so this whole thing can be over.
> 
> He certainly never expected this, but it's entertaining!
> 
> He has a very, very bad feeling about this.
> 
> He's probably going to get in trouble, but he doesn't care at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which the author very nearly named this chapter another variation of the word ‘conversation’, but got a better idea at the last moment.
> 
> :D  
> I got sudden inspiration, so you get another chapter!  
> It's short, but the best I could manage.
> 
> These kids haven't interacted at all. Let's change that!

Flare stared at Ink, unimpressed. “What do you want from me, again?”

Said artist grinned. “Well, you’re interrupting the flow of this AU’s story! So naturally, I have to stop you! It's kinda my job, you know?”

Flare blinked at him. “You are weirdly excited about this.”

“...I am?” Ink absentmindedly reached for his blue vial. “That's okay, I can just-”

“I just wasn't expecting that, is all.”

“Oh! Okay then! Now, where were we…?”

“I believe we were in the middle of battling.”

“Why?” Ink inquired ~~, and Flare felt the need to facepalm~~.

“Because I'm in the middle of corrupting this AU,” he replied, expression unchanging.

“Ohh, okay.” Ink made a note on his scarf. “Let's do that, then. But why were you corrupting this AU?”

“Because I want to.” That was a lie. Flare didn't want anything, but the answer seemed to satisfy the artist.

Ink leapt towards him, and Flare dodged, readying his own attack. At least the painter had stopped talking.

Now, he just had to get this battle over with.

Lilac glanced up from his fanfiction, before looking back down- and then back up again at the sight of Ray, staring directly at him, appearance unnaturally disheveled.

“Oh, er, hello,” he said, quickly dropping his phone into a pocket. “Is this for work, or as friends?”

“Uh, friends.” Ray said with a smile, though it seemed more like a grimace.

Lilac relaxed at that. He wasn’t ready for a fight. Not after… whatever that was with Flare. “Okay, okay, that’s… uh, that’s good,” He studied the other a little more closely. “Hey, are you oka-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” The response was too quick to be genuine, and Lilac stared at Ray incredulously. “Are you really?”

“...yes. It’s just- uh- something happened and now I have to make sure Rigel doesn’t accidentally poison himself or anything. You know?”

“No, but that does sound like quite the conundrum,” Lilac leaned forwards, resting his arms on his snow-covered sentry station. (He was too lazy to clean the snow off, and it kinda completed the look, anyways. Besides- it would just get replaced with more, so why should he even bother?) “Want to talk about it?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” For the first time that day, Ray’s smile wasn’t forced. “That’d be really nice.”

“...and then he drank it _all_ , even though it was poisoned. I… he got _really_ sick.”

“Yeah, that would make sense. Why was the drink poisoned in the first place, though?”

“Oh, Rigel drinks poison to flex,” Ray said, dismissively. “He also says it tastes good. I usually take his word for it, because… you know… I can’t drink it.”

“Nice,” Lilac replied. “But why exactly has that not happened before? You know, him getting poisoned and all that stuff.”

Ray froze. “Uh. That’s a complicated question.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to answer, that’s fine, or if it’s something confidential, that’s okay too-”

“No, no, I’ll tell you, it’s just… Rigel would be pissed if he found out I told you, that’s all.”

“Oh, that must mean it’s _really_ interesting, then.”

“Yeah… uh, quick question for you first, though- have you seen Flare at all, recently? Like… in the past week or so?”

Now it was his turn to freeze. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“...okay. That makes this slightly easier to tell you, I guess. Uh, Rigel doesn’t have his powers-”

“Wait, what?”

“ _-and_ we think that Flare might have them, for whatever reason.”

It was like something clicked for Lilac, because suddenly a whole lot of things made sense. “Oh my stars,” he whispered in shock. “That makes so much sense.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“No, but I- how did I not realize this before? This is- I mean, honestly, this feels like a fanfic.”

“How?”

“Well, you know, the kind of fic that you’d write because you’re bored and also because you’ve had an idea that involves angst and someone’s telling you to do it so you do. Did I mention the angst?”

“I mean... that makes sense, but I was thinking more along the lines of a swap AU?”

“Oh, yeah, that works too."

There was a silence, before Ray asked, “Do you think we should do anything about this?”

“...the better question would be if we even _can_ do anything.”

There was another pause, before Lilac said, “We could try talking to him, but when he was here, he was… emotionless. Despondent would actually be a better word, I think.”

Ray shuddered. “That sounds bad,” he mused, before perking up. “What if I talked to him?”

Lilac could literally _hear_ the warning bells going off in his head. “Are you sure that would-”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try!”

Lilac could tell that Ray was DETERMINED to do this, and he sighed. “If you’re sure…”

Ray grinned at him, before opening a portal, presumably to begin AU hopping in search of the guardian. “Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to… oh, I dunno- die or anything! I'll be back before you know it.” And then the guard was gone.

Lilac wished he felt like that was the truth, but he had a very, very bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lilac gets to break the fourth wall, as a treat.  
> I feel bad for Ray, you know? Parenting is hard.
> 
> If you're wondering when Ray and Flare will interact... Well... You'll just have to wait, won't you? ;)
> 
> Please leave a comment! They give me life.


	7. Truce?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He just wants to talk.
> 
> He doesn't like where this is headed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost to the end of this fic!  
> I just need to edit this last chapter, and that'll be it.  
> I'm... upset to see this finished, I'm not going to lie. This has been amazing to write!  
> Again, this is a short chapter, but the next one is REALLY long.
> 
> The two kids who haven't interacted finally do.

Ray walked through a portal into genocide Outertale, searching for the corrupted guardian of positivity. He just wanted to talk.

He just  _ had  _ to talk to Flare.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It was a pleasant surprise, then, when Flare arrived in the AU mere moments later.

“Heya, Flare.” 

“...hello,” Flare replied, summoning his broadsword, and Ray’s eyelights flickered down to look at the weapon, before returning to Flare‘s face, the guard’s phalanges twitching.

“Uh, I just.. want to talk.”

Flare blinked at the guard, who stood there awkwardly, before letting his weapon dissolve into pure magic. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh- uh, would you please just  _ consider _ giving Rigel back his powers-“

“No,” Flare replied, and if he didn’t believe the guard nearly incapable of anger, would have sworn he felt a piercing rage from where Ray was standing, if only for a moment, before it vanished without a trace.

Ray inhaled deeply, which was unnecessary, because they were skeletons and didn’t have to breathe, before speaking again. “Okay. I’m going to give you a few reasons why you should. After that you can decide. Okay?”

Flare nodded, planning on ignoring most of the speech and saying ‘no’ anyways. Ray continued, “Okay, number one: Rigel is really…  _ off.  _ I don’t know if he knows he is, but he’s… not okay. I think that he just… is lost without his powers. He-  _ stars _ , Flare, he almost  _ cried  _ in front of me. Rigel  _ never _ cries, you know that, right?”

Flare hummed. That was fair- though him agreeing with the guard’s statements wasn’t the same as  _ actually _ giving Rigel his powers back. He didn’t think he would, even if he knew how.

“Uh, number two is that… uh, well, I didn’t really have a number two. But… what do you think you’re gaining by keeping them?”

“What do you think?” Flare deadpanned.

Ray sighed. “Okay, okay. I’m just saying that if you think you’re saving people by doing this, you’re wrong. You- if you think you’re saving lives or whatever, that you haven’t killed anyone… you’re lying to yourself. You’ve- do you know how many people you’ve driven to suicide? D- doesn’t that count as murder? And anyways- you might not have LV, but that… that can’t take away your EXP.”

Flare’s eyelights went out. He  _ knew _ . He knew about Flowerfell.

Ray somehow  _ knew _ about that.

“Yeah, I get it. You’re not proud of that. I’m… I’ve got a little EXP, but I never- I never liked killing people, it’s just…  _ wrong _ .” Ray finished softly.

“You do it anyway.”

“...it’s a living.” Ray murmured, the phalanges of his right hand (his sword hand, Flare remembered) twitching again, but this time sparking with goldenrod magic. “I don’t- it’s just a  _ job _ , it’s not-”

“Isn’t that what they all say at first?”

Ray froze, his expression unreadable. “...stop it,” he whispered.

“Stop what?”

“Your aura-”

“Maybe it’s not my aura.” Flare deadpanned.

“It  _ has _ to be, I’m not-  _ I don’t- _ ”

The negativity- the pure _ distress _ emanating from around the guard was so intense that the area around him seemed to darken. At least, that’s how it felt.

He wasn’t… he wasn’t sure. ...why did it hurt a little?

Why did it hurt to see- to _ feel _ him like this?

He-

Were these…  _ emotions _ ?

No-  _ no _ , he didn’t have those anymore, but-

He was upset.

“What do you think you’ll gain from helping  _ him? _ ” Flare tried to keep his tone detached, but it was  _ so difficult  _ to stop his feelings from showing.

“...nothing much, really, but we’re friends, and-”

“You’re _ friends _ .”

“Yes, dammit-”

“You do realize that he's using you, right?”

Ray froze. “Oh my stars, you think he  _ asked _ to be my friend- Flare, I don't think he's even noticed that we are friends.”

“It doesn't matter. He's still going to end up using you.”

“Eh, I'm used to that by now. And anyways, I don't betray my friends, so there's that.”

Flare nearly flinched. There was no way he knew about that  _ thing _ that had happened with Lilac… right?

...the emotions were too much.

He had to figure out how to get Ray to leave.

Maybe a fight? The other didn't seem well-prepared for one, so it should be an easy victory… 

Yes, that would do.

Ray flinched as a sword appeared in Flare’s hand, summoning his own longsword out of pure instinct. “Flare, don’t-”

Flare stepped towards him, raising his sword, and Ray raised his to block the hit that he knew was inevitably coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :DDDDD  
> once again, a cliffhanger!  
> I may have an obsession with these, hehe.


	8. Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ THE TAGS BEFORE STARTING THIS CHAPTER.
> 
> have fun uwu

Two swords- both made purely of magic and their wielder’s wills- crashed together, and if you paid enough attention, you’d notice the faint buzzing of said magic colliding, fighting each other for dominance, but both equally unwavering.

Flare attempted to hit Ray from his left, but Ray swing around and parried the hit, not using the opening Flare had accidentally left unguarded. He wasn’t  _ trying _ to hurt Flare. He just wanted the other to stop trying to hit him.

Meanwhile, the corrupted guardian tried to keep his emotions repressed, but- he blocked a half-hearted swing from the guard- it was hard to battle someone and do that at the same time.

Maybe it was okay to feel a little, for once.

Ray dodged a swing from Flare’s sword. “Come on, we don’t have to fight-“

“Shut up.”

“Flare-“ Ray was almost cut by Flare’s blade, and leapt backwards, readying his longsword. “We don’t need to do this-“

“Stop,” Flare muttered, and some of his emotions shone through his mask of indifference- he was upset, and maybe even a little angry.

Ray sighed, launching an attack which involved multiple near-hits for both parties, but in the end, nothing changed- nobody had been hit yet.

Flare feinted, pretending to go and hit Ray from above- but at the last moment pulling it downwards, towards Ray’s legs- and Ray tried to dodge, but tripped, (and it wasn’t because of a terribly convenient vine that happened to be there) and unlike the other, Flare took the opportunity given to him, flicking his sword towards the guard, and it cleaved through Ray’s ribs like they were butter, staining his sword’s blade with a dark crimson.

Ray felt an excruciating, indescribable  _ pain _ in his side, and Chara screamed _. _ He looked down, and the sight of his own blood mixing with- with his  _ dust _ \- made him feel sick. He looked up at Flare weakly, his expression hurt and filled with shock.

His head felt light, and Ray felt dizzy and disoriented. That- that was a killing blow- he was going to _die_. He didn’t even have any healing items to give him even the _slightest_ chance of survival- all he could do was pick a spot to crumble into dust.

It was sobering.

He ignored Chara’s shrieks and sobs, staggering over to a small clump of rocks nearby, his shirt wet and dripping with a mixture of blood and dust. He-

_ “Ray- you can’t- just- just  _ **_let me do it!_ ** _ “ _

He felt his control yanked away as Chara forcibly took it, but he… well, he didn’t mind. If Chara wanted to have a body for even just a little while, he couldn’t stop the kid.

He felt his senses numb, one by one- first, the taste of blood and chalky powder went, then he couldn’t smell the metal of said blood, and then the pain faded, and he heard Chara’s scream when he finally realized how much it _ hurt _ , but it was warped, like it was being put through a filter. 

Then the world’s color faded a little (or, really, a lot- the world was in near-grayscale, though he could still tell which colours were which), and he found himself floating nearby his body, fully separated from it.

Ray- no, Chara- opened his eyes, (it was always weird watching his body moving under Chara’s control) eyelights burning a bright, DETERMINED red.

“Monster- monster bodies are-”

_ “Yeah- yeah, they’re weird. You say this every time.” _

Chara made a grunt of affirmation, and then immediately coughed up blood, the sight of the red crimson making both of them wince. “It- it’s bad, R- Ray- We’re hurt, and-”

Ray nodded sadly.  _ “Yup. He… I didn’t think he  _ **_would_ ** _ do it, you know?” _

Chara nodded, and then groaned from the resulting headache.  _ “Chara, if it hurts, don’t nod, dammit!”  _ Ray exclaimed, moving so that he was floating directly in front of the kid.  _ “Just-  _ **_think_ ** _ at me!” _

_ ‘Yeah- yeah, this is better- But- Ray, we  _ **_have_ ** _ to stay determined, we  _ **_can’t_ ** _ give up, we-‘ _

_ “We’re dying and there’s nothing we can do about it.” _

_ ‘No! What if-‘ _

_ “What ifs don’t  _ **_happen_ ** _ , Chara. We’re dying.” _

_ ‘...we are, aren’t we?’ _

_ “Yeah.” _

Chara twitched, his phalanges pressing against the gaping wound in his (their?) side, trying and failing to reign in his screeches of pain as he tried to stop the seemingly never-ending cascade of blood and scattering dust.

_ “Chara, what are yo-“ _

“Ray-  _ Shut up! _ ” Chara screamed aloud, and Flare, who was watching the whole thing in a sort of shocked silence, winced.

...he pitied Ray, strangely. The guard didn’t deserve to die. He hadn’t aimed to kill the guard, anyways, but… it was fine.

He couldn’t lie to himself forever- Flowerfell was gone, all of them turned to dust by his own hands. He wasn’t innocent. He had killed people before, so… what was another?

A portal opened nearby, and the corrupted guardian turned to see Rigel walk through, and hearing the screams, turn to see Ray, bleeding out on the cold, hard ground.

Rigel gasped, eyelights going out, seeing his- stars- his  _ friend _ , dying, bleeding- and the  _ screams _ , they were loud and they _ hurt _ , they made him want to scream too, and maybe he did, as he ran over to the guard.

And then stopped in shock as red eyelights locked on him.

“Who..?” He asked, his voice hoarse, and he coughed, before trying to clear it, though that didn't do much. “Who are-”

“You- you want to talk to- to Ray, right?” Chara asked, his voice hoarse and unsteady.

“Y- yes, but who-“ he asked, before the skeleton in front of him closed his eyes, (he wasn’t sure how they could do that if they were skeletons but  _ now was  _ not _ the time to think about that- _ ) and when they opened again, he was met with eyelights that were a familiar yellow. “R- Rigel-” Ray choked out, and Rigel broke a little inside.

“You- you’re-“

“Dying,” Ray finished humorlessly. Rigel flinched, and then nodded. Hearing Ray say that made it seem so much more…  _ real _ .

“Yes,” he agreed. “You- you’re-“ Rigel choked on his words, trying to hide the sapphire blue tears brimming in his eyesockets. 

Ray glanced away for a moment, before turning back to Rigel (was it just him, or did the guard seem slightly more fragile now?) and saying, “There’s nothing you can do-“

Rigel paused, glancing at his hands, which sparked with a hint of green. “...maybe there is,” he murmured, mostly to himself, and Ray’s eyelights went out. “Don’t, Rigel- it’s too much, you’ll hurt- you’ll hurt yourself,  _ don’t you dare-“ _

But Rigel was already pressing his hands, which glowed a bright emerald green, to Ray’s wound, pushing him magic so that he’d  _ live,  _ dammit, he  _ had _ to live, Ray just couldn’t die, not poor, sweet Ray, who had had his entire universe wiped from existence, who didn’t have anyone, who Ink left to dust by himself in the dead remains of his universe, the one he had found, the person who had clung to the guardian when he realized that he wasn’t a hallucination and  _ cried _ , who used to hold back a scream at the sight of a cloud because the white reminded him of the death of his universe, who pretended to be fine when he wasn’t, who helped everyone except himself even when he  _ needed _ it, he was too kind, he was just too  _ nice _ , and so seeing him like this hurt, because the multiverse could take anyone, but not  _ Ray, it couldn’t take Ray, who didn’t deserve to die-! _

Rigel first realized he was crying, then that he had begun pouring his own HP into Ray’s, and that Ray was screaming at him to stop because he’d hurt himself, that 50 HP was enough, that he’d live, but Rigel didn’t  _ care,  _ because he didn’t want to give Ray just enough, he wanted Ray to live, he  _ needed _ his single friend in the entire multiverse to make it out alive, he just had to-

Ray pushed the guardian off of him, and Rigel blinked at him, confused, feeling a dull ache (actually, it was more like a burning pain) in his side. “Rigel, it’s- it’s enough!” the guard exclaimed, and Rigel glanced at him, suspicious, before performing a CHECK on him. His eyes flickered over the letters, ignoring the flavor text, instead opting to look at his stats- to look at his HoPe.

*Ray: 218 AT, 179 DF

*HP: 621/984

*LV :4, EXP: 10,468

*Wants you to stop.

Rigel sighed in relief, before glaring at Ray. “Go.”

“But-“

“ _ Go. _ ”

Ray sighed, before standing shakily and portaling back to the hideout. 

Rigel waited a moment, making sure the guard was actually gone, before standing up and striding over to Flare, who had watched the whole exchange with an unreadable expression.

“ _ You _ ,” Rigel hissed, glaring at Flare, azure eyelights smoldering with fury. “What did you do to him?”

“We battled, and I-“

“ _ Stop being so damn detached! _ ” Rigel exclaimed, his hands balling into fists with his paroxysm.

“...what?”

“You- you heard me. Stop pretending you don’t have emotions, because I know you, I know you have them, so quit your charade and-“

“I don’t want these.”

“...yes, you do, you always wanted-”

“Not anymore.”

“But...  _ why _ ?”

“Because they’re a hindrance-“

“Oh my stars, you’re  _ actually _ stupid,” Rigel scoffed. “Emotions are a natural response to stimuli.  _ Obviously _ . Otherwise, evolution would have destroyed them.”

“...what?”

“You can’t even understand  _ that _ ? Ugh, okay- Emotions are normal, you dolt.”

“...fine.”

“Great!” Rigel exclaimed, the word layered with fake happiness, before his tone darkened again, giving Flare a glimpse into the rage he could barely contain. “Now  _ why the hell did you try to kill him? _ ”

“I didn’t, that was just where the hit landed-“

“Oh, so you’re telling me that you just happened to hit him in the ribs? Yeah, Flare, that’s  _ totally _ believable.”

“...Rigel-“

“Listen, Flare, either you tell me the truth, or I-“ Rigel summoned his staff, feeling the (un)familiar weight drop into his hand- “I’ll crush you.”

Flare frowned, summoning his broadsword. “I mean, if you believe I’m lying, you’re free to battle me, if that's what you want to do.”

Rigel swung his staff, attempting to clock Flare in the skull, but Flare simply blocked with his sword, (the one good thing about weapons made of magic is they don’t tend to act like their forms, hence the fact that he could deflect the staff, but he couldn’t cut it in half- magic was wonky like that) the staff bouncing off of it, but Rigel tried one more time, and then Flare attacked, swinging his sword around and attempting to hit Rigel from the side, Rigel swinging the staff around to block the hit, and then they were stepping away from each other again, both circling the other.

“Just give up,” Rigel hissed, and Flare blinked at him. “That would defeat the purpose of trying to beat you,” he replied, and Rigel’s expression flickered to one of annoyance. Flare tried to trip Rigel, but the smaller skeleton caught himself, before glaring daggers at Flare.

If looks could kill, Flare would have dusted on the spot.

“Do you  _ really  _ think that I’d fall for that?”

The corners of Flare‘s mouth twisted upwards, before he smothered that line of emotions. “That was a pun,” he remarked anyways.

Rigel swore, utterly disgusted with his slipup, but then glanced up at Flare. “...you almost  _ smiled _ .” Rigel said, seemingly pondering something.

Flare paused. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did!” Rigel smirked. “I’m not  _ against _ lowering myself to your despicably low level of wit in order to piss you off, you know.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I totally  _ wood _ .”

“...that was horrible.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you had  _ standards _ .”

“I do, I just can’t stand it when-“

The pair paused, registering what had just been said, and Rigel snickered. “You made a pun, Flare~”

Flare sighed. “That was unintentional, I swear.”

“Sure you did. Though, even with your lack of emotions, you’re still such a  _ ray  _ of sunshine.” Rigel smirked at Flare, his eyelights betraying his simmering anger. He was still pissed.

“Oh, so you’re guilt-tripping me now.” Flare stated, trying not to betray the pang of negativity the sentence sent coursing through him.

“Of course not! Why would I  _ ever consider _ guilt tripping my _ dear brother _ ?”

“...leave.”

“Or you’ll do what?”

“I’ll-”

“Listen, Flare, all I want are my powers back, so just give them to me-”

“I don’t know how I got them.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“You made this happen, you must know what happened-”

“I don’t know, Rigel.”

Rigel frowned at him, before he grinned. “Well, if you want to do this the hard way, I’m not opposed.”

Flare sighed, flicking his right hand upwards, summoning vines to keep Rigel in place. “Please stop ranting. You’re becoming a nuisance.”

Rigel sputtered indignantly. “You-“

“I did what?”

“Agh- Nevermind- Just- What do you even want to do? What do you want?”

Flare paused. He didn’t want anything. He didn’t… 

_ He missed feeling. He missed feeling safe, and happy, and he missed hanging out with his friends and binging anime until they all fell asleep and he missed patrolling because that was fun if he was with his friends and he missed pranks and he missed those dumb, stupid things that Ink did, like drinking all the shampoo in Lilac’s house that one time because even though that was chaotic it felt normal and normal was good enough for him and he missed empathy and he missed so many things that he could never remember them all but he missed them anyways- _

He didn’t miss them, he didn’t want that, no- he-

And then, he found himself saying, “A lot of things.”

No. He didn’t. He didn’t want anything. He- he lied, that was it, it was a strategic move and nothing else-

Rigel hummed, bringing him out of his thoughts. “That’s fair, but what exactly? What do you want with my powers? Corruption? Because that’s kind of my job. Not… being  _ friends _ with people. I’m not supposed to do that, right? But that’s what I’ve been doing, and it feels weird. I just- I just need my powers back, my job back- because I’m not...  _ me _ without them.”

Flare stared down at Rigel, before pulling out the guardian’s SOUL, after an internal debate. Rigel stiffened, trying to raise a hand to pull the fragile thing back into his chest, but the small lavender ball (which was attempting to take the shape of a rose) of negativity was out of his reach now, and anyways, there were vines pinning his arms to his sides.

He was getting an idea of how Flare had felt then, when he had been the one in control. Completely, utterly helpless.

~~ Hopeless, even. ~~

“What are you doing…?” he nearly whispered, although he didn’t really want to know.

“This,” Flare replied, and a vine charged with all of the corrupted guardian’s pain and hurt and  _ emotion _ plunged into the smaller’s SOUL, and Rigel screamed in pain, his mouth filled with the taste of iron, head pounding, feeling like he was being shredded from the inside, and all he could see was red, and all he could feel was  _ pain,  _ so much  _ pain and thenhewasonthefloorandscreamingbeacuseitallhurtithurtithurtithurtstopmakeitstopstopstop- _

It all numbed suddenly. He felt himself crying, and when he reached up to check if there were truly tears dripping down his cheekbones, his phalanges came away stained with an inky black.

_ What…? _

He was hit with a feeling of déjà vu, but when could this have happened before? He didn’t-

_ The incident. _

That was when-

Was this actually-

He looked up at Flare, and the other was on the floor too, staring at his hands, muttering to himself- seemingly frantic, though Rigel couldn't guess why.

Flare felt weak, but why? He hadn’t  _ felt _ , and feeling was what made him weaker so why was he  _ hurting _ and  _ weak _ and-

He was- drained- and- and- and-

_ No-! _

Rigel felt magic and  _ power _ pour into him, and grinned, feeling slightly disoriented, his vision spotty as his half-cape slowly began to hover- billowing behind him in a breeze that just wasn’t there.

_ Yes! Just a little- _

Suddenly, both of them lost consciousness as one.

When Flare came to, and the memories started flooding back, he stifled a sob, placing his fist in his mouth to muffle it, for he failed to stop his tears.

He- he nearly  _ killed _ Ray, the poor kid- and- and he had corrupted so many AUs, and-

And-

_ He was horrible, wasn’t he? _

He felt sick- how could he have even  _ considered _ doing that? And- and so many people- they were going to be dead and- and he failed and- he was a failure and everyone probably hated him but he wouldn’t blame them because he was  _ horrible _ and-

He shuddered, digging his phalanges into his arm, uncaring of the fact they drew blood, but his clothes were already stained red and wet with blood anyways, so what did it matter?

Nobody would notice.

Nobody would-  _ should  _ care about him.

Rigel groaned. Holy shit, his head-

Wait.

Wait a moment.

His powers- he could feel them-  _ yes! _

His eyelights flickered into warped stars in his rush of excitement, though he quickly forced them back into their original shape.

He was  _ fine _ now. He wasn’t weak like before- now he could actually do his job.

He felt a wave of negativity from his left, so he turned, surprised (but at the same time, he wasn't) to see Flare was its source, hand in his mouth to muffle sobs.

He could feel all that guilt- ohhh, it was  _ delicious _ , but- damn his morals- he felt a need to console the other, his hand outstretched to tap the other’s back, to get his attention, to tell him it would be okay, that it would be fine, to say that-

No.

He refused.

He- he  _ shouldn’t _ .

He wanted to, but he wasn’t allowed to. Just like he wasn’t allowed to be-

Oh stars.

He had a friend, he had been  _ happy _ , he had-  _ This wasn’t supposed to be happening! _

He tried to calm himself down- no, he could just tell Ray he was imagining things, but he had healed him so that wouldn’t- unless he-

Oh, there really was no getting out of that, he supposed.

Fine.

...maybe having a friend wouldn’t be too bad.

And anyways, Ray was friends with everyone, so it didn't matter.

He stood to leave, before remembering the necklace still in his pocket. He took it out, looking at it for a moment, before sliding the moon charm off of the golden chain and into his palm, and placing the necklace onto the ground.

Then Rigel slowly stalked away, before opening a portal and leaving the AU, though not without one last furtive glance at Flare, who was still shaking.

When Flare finally pulled himself together, he was cold. And alone.

It was too much like before, when he had broken- when the incident had happened.

The dust and blood only served to fuel his sense of déjà vu.

Where had Rigel gone?

...well, he wasn’t in the AU, that was for certain. The thought helped him relax.

He turned around, trying to see if someone was there, and a glimmer of gold caught his eye.

The necklace.

He crawled over to it, picking it up almost reverently, and absentmindedly put it on, his mind racing.

Where was the silver charm?

More importantly, how had it gotten here?

He shook his head, deciding to think more on that later, and stood up, preparing to open a portal to Lilac’s AU, before stopping.

He… that was where he stayed, most of the time, but-

...he had really screwed it up, hadn’t he?

The Doodlesphere could work, if Ink was okay with that…

Maybe he’d be? Maybe that would be fine?

Yeah.

Yeah, he’d do that… and then he’d get started on making amends for all of the things he had done.

It was, after all, the right thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D  
> You know, originally he was going to die.  
> Maybe I'll write what would have happened if he had.
> 
> Oh well.

**Author's Note:**

> :)
> 
> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudos or a comment! They’re fun to read when I do get them, and I love talking to you guys!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [What Should Have Been](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25514380) by [Insane_but_smart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insane_but_smart/pseuds/Insane_but_smart)
  * [Aftermath](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147584) by [Insane_but_smart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insane_but_smart/pseuds/Insane_but_smart)




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